The Greatest Profession

Dr. Swanson is currently serving as executive resident with the North Carolina Association of Pharmacists. He is a 2008 graduate of Campbell University's School of Pharmacy.

My first 25 years have been
blessed ones. I have grown
up in the best of families
and shared memories with the closest
of friends. I have learned under the
greatest of teachers in the classrooms
of school, church, and life—teachers
who showed me that I really could be
anything I wanted to be. I should not be
too surprised, then, when I look back
on my first 6 months as a pharmacist
and realize that I belong to the greatest
profession.

I will admit that I may be a bit biased—only a bit, though, and I am
not alone. Those outside the field of
pharmacy are beginning to notice just
how great our profession is, too. In
December 2008, U.S. News & World
Report published "The 30 Best Careers
for 2009." The fact that pharmacy was
included on the list is not what struck
me—I was counting on that. Rather, it
was why the periodical chose to spotlight
pharmacy as one of the year's top
careers. Did it have to do with income?
The write-up included just 2 small sentences
on salary data. Job security was
only briefly alluded to. The opportunity
to work flexible hours was not even
mentioned. Aren't these the things that
make for such a great profession? I
certainly do not think so.

The article noted that our profession
is a changing one, and those changes
qualify it as a "best career." With ever-rising
health care costs and a consistent
decline in the amount of time physicians
spend with patients, the role of
the pharmacist is evolving into that of
a primary care provider. Pharmacists
have long been regarded as the most
accessible health care professionals,
but these days, we are able to offer
our patients so much more than triage:
from medication therapy consults
to bone density screenings, immunizations
and lipid panel evaluations, even
diabetes education classes. Although
pharmacists have long claimed ownership
of many of these activities, a lack
of reimbursement for the provision of
these services always seemed to say,
"We really do not see value in what you
are doing." Thankfully, that is beginning
to change.

This is not about tooting our own
horn. It is about reminding ourselves
why we chose pharmacy as our life's
career in the first place. Was it really
about the money, the job security, the
schedule? My guess is that it was not—that it was about the patients we could
help and the lives we could touch. In
this season of change, take a moment
to reflect on how you can make this
greatest profession even greater.